Monday, 3 November 2008

Coffin at North Carolina polling station

A real sadness, and a brief lull in the overwhelming atmosphere of enthusiasm, in the downtown Raleigh Obama campaign office at the news of coffin displayed at a North Carolina polling station, bearing a picture of Barack Obama. Prompts a long, introspective discussion that racism, and in particular the KKK, are still so widespread.

A silence briefly descends until a young volunteer, who has school tomorrow – and has not been listening to any of the conversation for being absorbed in data entry on one of the many loaned laptops – says: “Uh, guys? How do you run GOTV by FO not turf?”

The campaign is instantly back to life. Three volunteers at her table – different ages and races, all from different parts of the US, none of whom had been politically involved at all before – offer various technical and political advice like wizened old hacks.